The Catch Trap

Rating:
Summary: Horrible, Trite, Smarmy and Forgettable
Review: As a gay man, I really looked forward to "The Catch Trap" as one of the few love stories that would really speak to me. Instead, I found a book full of unbelievably shallow and sacharine characters with little to no appeal.

Aside from the circus setting, I found the two main characters so stereotypically sappy as to be laughable in all the wrong places. I felt insulted at every turn of the page as the two boys/men toggled between love and hatred of themselves and each other.

Admittedly, I'm no fan of Bradley's writing, and "The Catch Trap" is the perfect example of why. While I understand from many a friend I've discussed this with that I'm of a minority opinion here, I can't help but recommend that this book NOT be read...by anyone.

Rating:
Summary: An Unexpected Gem
Review: I had read and enjoyed The Dreyfus Affair, and one of the people who reviewed it here mentioned that The Catch Trap covered some of the same ground better. I read the description and immediately decided it wasn't for me. I don't care for circuses, and I don't particularly care for works set in this era. For some reason, though, the title stuck with me--perhaps because I have enjoyed Marion Zimmer Bradley's works in the past, so one day I picked up the book in the library and read the blurb. Again, it just didn't appeal to me, so I put it back. A few days later, I was desperate for something to read and finally gave it a try.

I am so glad I did. This is a rich and beautifully nuanced novel. The characters came to life for me as only a few have in many years of voracious reading. I would heartily recommend this book to anyone. Don't let the description put you off!

Rating:
Summary: Still One of My All-time Favorites
Review: I read this for the first time almost twenty years ago, when I was in college. I read it a couple of more times in the following years, but this is probably the first time I've reread it in eight or ten years. And again, I can't put it down. I will still be sad when I'm done reading it, because I'd like to have more of it.

This is one of the best gay love stories you're likely to find, at least if you're a soppy romantic like me. I fell in love with the characters and the setting, not to mention the historical details. Hell, to this day I have a thing for redheads, in part because one of the lead characters, Tommy Zane, was a redhead. If I ever go to the circus, it's because of this book. I want a sequel, but at the same time I want the ending to be the "happily ever after" the characters deserve.

From a mechanical perspective Bradley was not the greatest writer, but she sure could spin a yarn. The book grabs you and does not let you go until well after you've put it down. You can't help but get involved with the main characters, the Santelli family, and their circus milieu. It also works on the level of social history and commentary. Mario and Tommy are like many gay couples of that time in their response to the repression society heaped on them. Their struggle to make their love survive and even thrive under such conditions leaves me misty-eyed by the end. In a very real sense, I think the book is Bradley's tribute to the struggle and pain of that generation of gay men and women, and the strength it took to endure. The reviewer who derided the story as being about closet cases needs to understand that things were very different back then. As for me, I would make this mandatory reading in every high school, especially in the Bible Belt.

So get it, read it, and pass it on to your friends and family.

Rating:
Summary: Melodramatic, but engaging
Review: I really don't understand the hate some feel for this book. It accurately depicts the angst of the closet at that time. The gymnastics, the ethnic passion, and the romance may be over the top for those expecting a contemporary attitude, but I enjoyed it a lot. I've read it twice. The protagonists are sexy, conflicted and defiant, eventually. It's one of the great 'old style' gay novels. I don't know why it hasn't been made into a film, not that that justifies a novel's quality.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent novel that surprised and moved me
Review: I would have given the book a 10 and perhaps should have but I am a petty person and the typos in it were very numerous and distracting. Other than that this book is by far the best I have ever read. I have not read any of her other books and seeing as I don't like fantasy books there is a good chance I never will read anything else by her. But because of this book alone she is my favourite author. I fell completely in love with the characters and the entire circus theme. The love story was well done and reasonably real. I would love to read a novel exploring the lives of the older members of the family (ie, Lucia and Joe, or even the older Mario). I loved this novel and all the characters. I could not put it down while I was reading it and as soon as I finished (in the middle of the night) I began reading it from the beginning again. This is a wonderful novel. Read it.

Rating:
Summary: Impossible to Put Down
Review: Let me say at the onset that THE CATCH TRAP has a number of flaws. It is unevenly written; the storyline is somewhat repetitive; the characters are sometimes poorly motivated; the relationship between central characters Mario Santelli and Tommy Zane betrays a certain innocence on the part of the author. But for all its flaws and failings, THE CATCH TRAP is simply one of the most compulsively readable novels I have ever encountered.

The thing that makes the novel so impossible to put down is that everything about it is vividly, vividly alive. Set in the world of the circus of the 1940s and 1950s, the novel tells the story of teenager Tommy Zane, the son of a lion tamer, who dreams of becoming a trapeze artist--and who is taken under the wing of a famous family, The Flying Santellis. Bradley not only gives the novel tremedous sweep, she is so meticulous in her portrayal of circus life that you can smell the popcorn and feel the sawdust; the environment lives and breathes around the characters in a most remarkable way.

But no novel survives on atmosphere alone. Bradley's story is equally unexpected: the star flyer, Mario Santelli, is homosexual--and he and teenage Tommy embark on a passionate love affair. But not only is Tommy underage, this is the 1940s and 1950s; the secrecy their relationship requires proves devastating to both, driving them into a downward spiral of guilt and despair even as they risk their lives on the trapeze with every performance. And around the two swirl a myriad of colorful characters as brilliant as a storm of confetti: the tempetuous Santelli family itself, the movers and shakers of their profession, the contrasting high flyers and lowlifes they encounter as they move from carny midway to center ring, from stardom to disaster.

One of the most surprising things about the novel is how romantically Bradley presents the relationship between Mario and Tommy and--for all her rather elementary assumptions about gay men and their relationships--how effective her approach is. You believe in them, you believe in the world in which they move, and page after page you want to know what happens next. This is not a book to place on your nightstand... because you'll never get to sleep. Surprisingly powerful, amazingly memorable, and very strongly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing
Review: Marion Zimmer Bradley breathes vivid life into the circus world of the 1940's and 50's with this unforgettable love story, a timeless classic about the triumph of love in the face of all odds. Bradley did her homework on the circus world of the 1940's, as well as on the gay sub-culture of that era. The book is so detailed, so nuanced, that you will end the book feeling as if you know all the characters --- the passionate and angst-filled Mario, his seemingly frail sister-in-law Stella who grows stronger and more sure as the years pass, Mario's Uncle --- the solid-as-a-rock but bigoted Angelo. And, of course, Mario's love Tommy Zane, the anchor of this panoramic novel. The tale of Tommy's coming into adulthood is mesmerizing, as is Mario and Tommy's fight to keep their love together, while struggling to keep it hidden in a prejudiced world.

This book is so amazing that I'm almost at a loss for words. I just finished reading it for the third time. The first time I read it was 10 years ago. I was in college and I remember reading it between classes, during classes, and at red lights on the way to class. It was so incredible that I couldn't put it down. And now, 10 years later, reading it for a third time, the book lost none of its power - I still found layers in it that I hadn't discovered before. I found myself reading and re-reading passages and paragraphs because the book is so rich that I wanted to keep savoring it.

Whether you're gay or straight or whatever, you should be able to relate to the characters and understand them. You are in for an intense, page-turning read with The Catch Trap. The book is almost a bit overwhelming --- I recommend that you start it when you have some time to get immersed in it, as you won't be able to put it down once you pass the first 100 pages or so. (It does start a bit slowly but once it gets started, hold onto your hats!)

Another strength about this book is that it's a lot more than a love story. It has many themes---what is artistic integrity?, how do we stay close to our families while asserting our own personalities?, and how do you stay true to your soulmate while growing into your own independance?

In a way, I would have loved a sequel, but Bradley ties everything together so perfectly, that a sequel isn't necessary.

I would give my right-arm to join a book discussion group about this book. If anyone wants to discuss it over email with me, please drop me a note at [e-mail] I think it's a shame that the book is, apparently, out of print. Marion Zimmer Bradley's hidden treasure!

Rating:
Summary: Don't read this when you need a good night's sleep!!
Review: Most of the positive things that have been said about this book are true. The detail is vivid, the characters are believable and complex, and the issues that the book faces are very important.

However, this is NOT a book for the faint of heart or for the easily offended. It is very far from political correctness, there is quite a bit of violence involved (especially between the two main characters, which DID disturb me), and the emotional intensity of the book comes to the point of pain for the reader. While I understand that this is probably pretty realistic as far as gay life of the time was concerned, and MZB's storytelling usually has a strong effect on me, this was to the point of being completely overwhelmed. Hence, only four stars -- you know what they say about too much of a good thing being bad....

Rating:
Summary: Realistic and beautifully written novel
Review: This book is another great master piece by M Z Bradley. I've already read lots of books by her and I think this one's the best. If you didn't read it, read it now! And don't be scared by the number of pages, you'll find yourself reading over 100 pages per day... It focuses interesting themes like circus and homossexuality in a very opened way. Everybody should read a story like this one. A Must!!!

Rating:
Summary: Love, In Any Form, Is a Beautiful Word
Review: Those who are familiar with Bradley's Darkover works know that she has tackled the theme of homosexuality before, but those works are set in a future, almost alien environment. This book's setting is one that almost everyone has had at least some contact with, that of the circus and the high-flying trapeze act.

The period is the forties and fifties, a time when such relationships were never, ever talked about, criminalized in most states, and ruined many careers and lives if they became public knowledge. To this setting Bradley brings a remarkably apt pen, one that shows the circus in such detail that you can literally hear the elephants trumpet, the lions roar, the drum roll before the death-defying flight of the trapeze artist. The book follows the happening of the Flying Santellis, a family that has given their all to the perfection of the trapeze act since the 1890s. The Santellis are a close-knit family, held together by tradition, discipline, and a set of old-world values. To this family comes young Tommy Zane, entranced by the dream of becoming a flyer, and so familiar with world of the circus as the son of a lion tamer that the lives of non-circus people seem almost unreal to him. He is brought under the wing of Mario Santelli for training, and there is a quickly developing attraction between the two, an attraction that is far more than just physical, an attuning of each to the other that leads to their perfect sense of timing with each other on the trapeze.

It is this point that Bradley develops so well in this novel, the impossibility of separating a person's sexuality from the rest of their lives, that love is far more than just sex. Add to that the environment of that time, when such love could not be freely expressed, and you have the recipe for serious emotional repression and destructive anger. Bradley's characters' feelings and thoughts bristle with such charge that it is impossible not to become caught up in their plight, not to have your own anger raised at the stupidity and prejudice displayed by Angelo, Mario's uncle, and others. The rest of the Santelli family have their own problems, too, somewhat more conventional, but just as heart-breaking, just as real as the family next door. The book's ending is a true emotional uplift, growing out of and very true to Bradley's characters' development into mature individuals.

Bradley's sexual descriptions are only very mildly graphic, but there is some violence depicted here that might disturb some readers. But that is part of the point: it should disturb, that a society's rules, when at odds with basic human nature, can lead to such outbreaks of violence, detrimental to both the involved individuals and the society at large.

An impeccably detailed setting, sharply realized characters that live and breathe, an explosive situation, and a thematic message that is handled with grace and much insight - this is a novel that demands reading, regardless of your own sexual preferences.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)